Mbeki would probably have preferred Mandela stayed retired
Quote of note:
Mbeki's government has been criticized for its sluggish response to the crisis and for courting dissident theorists who question the cause of AIDS. Until this year, the government refused to provide life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs through the public health system, citing concerns about their safety and cost.
Mandela announces eldest son died of AIDS
- ALEXANDRA ZAVIS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 6, 2005
(01-06) 08:30 PST JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) --
Former President Nelson Mandela announced Thursday that his eldest son died Thursday of AIDS-related complications, saying the only way to fight the disease's stigma was to speak openly about it.
Makgatho Mandela, an attorney, was admitted to Linksfield Park Clinic last month. He died at age 54.
"Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it, because the only way of making it appear to be a normal illness, just like TB, like cancer, is always to come out and say somebody has died because of HIV," Mandela said at a news conference at his residence.
Mandela said he had been unaware of his son's illness when he began lobbying for more openness about the pandemic some three years ago.
"I hope that as time goes on, we realize that it is important for us to talk openly about people who die of AIDS," Mandela said.
Mandela's position contrasts with that of President Thabo Mbeki, who has denied knowing anyone who died of AIDS. Mandela declined to comment on Mbeki's views.
More than 5 million of South Africa's 45 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, more than in any other country. An estimated 600 die of AIDS-related complications every day.
